Christa Pike Asked Two Questions After Waking From Failed Tennessee Execution, Lawyer Says

Christa Pike asked, “Where am I and who are you?” after regaining consciousness following a failed execution in Tennessee, her lawyer Randy Spivey said.

Speaking outside a Tennessee courthouse, Spivey described the 50-year-old as angry and confused after surviving last week’s attempted lethal-injection execution. She remains hospitalized in Nashville.

Judge orders execution evidence preserved

Pike’s legal team appeared in court seeking an order requiring the state to retain evidence from the execution attempt.

The judge directed officials to preserve everything that had been inside the execution room, a step that could help establish what happened during the procedure.

Her lawyers allege that the complications were foreseeable because of her medical condition and that the state had been warned about the risks.

Lawyers describe serious health complications

Spivey said Pike had severe swelling in both hands and arms, could not move her arms, and had been unable to swallow or eat since waking.

He also reported that she had developed a blood clot and pneumonia, while stressing that the extent of her recovery remained uncertain.

“I don’t know what function she will regain,” he said.

According to Spivey, Pike understood that the state had attempted to execute her. He said she had cooperated with the execution team as they tried to establish intravenous access.

Christa Pike’s murder conviction

Pike was sentenced to death for the January 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer, who was lured to an isolated area of the University of Tennessee’s agricultural campus.

Pike was convicted in 1996. The execution would have made her the first woman put to death in Tennessee in more than 200 years.